Synopsis : Nations largest job shadow program promotes career development for youth students and jobseekers with disabilities.

Main Document

Nation's largest job shadow program promotes career development for youth, students, and jobseekers with disabilities.

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is proud to honor October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month with its annual Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) program. DMD is the nation's largest job-shadow and career exploration program for students and job seekers with disabilities (www.DisabilityMentor.net/). AAPD coordinates the national DMD program through a network of more than 350 volunteer DMD Coordinators in every U.S. state, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and 23 other countries.

"Employment is the key to economic empowerment for people with disabilities. Disability Mentoring Day is AAPD's premier business program and has been connecting employers to job seekers with disabilities for 11 years while exposing those job seekers to a range of career options," explains AAPD President and CEO, Andy Imparato.

"AAPD is committed to promoting equal employment opportunity for people with disabilities. With the support of our sponsors and the hard work of our local coordinators, the DMD program offers thousands of students and job seekers with disabilities insight into the working world," said AAPD's Program Manager, Michael Murray.

Each year, AAPD celebrates Disability Mentoring Day on the third Wednesday of every October with a national launch. On October 20, AAPD will host the 2010 DMD National Launch in Washington, DC. Twenty promising college students will hear a call to public service and learn about the President's Executive Order to increase the numbers of federal employees with disabilities. The DMD Launch will begin with the breakfast hosted by former Governor of Pennsylvania and US Attorney General, The Honorable Dick Thornburgh, and Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, The Honorable Christine Griffin, at K & L Gates law firm. Following the breakfast, the college students will shadow federal officials who are committed to achieving equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

For more information on National Disability Employment Awareness Month or Disability Mentoring Day, please visit www.aapd.com. For more information about becoming a DMD Coordinator, Mentor, or Sponsor, please visit www.disabilitymentor.net.

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the country's largest cross-disability membership association, organizes the disability community to be a powerful voice for change - politically, economically, and socially. AAPD was founded in 1995 to help unite the diverse community of people with disabilities, including their family, friends and supporters, and to be a national voice for change in implementing the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). To learn more, visit the AAPD Web site: www.aapd.com

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